Proms 2013: the premières – how you voted

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Now that a fortnight has passed since the deafening broohaha of the Last Night, it’s time to look at how you, esteemed readers, have voted in the 5:4 Proms polls. 545 votes were cast this year, and having crunched the results in a variety of ways, here’s a summary of what you thought.

Worst New Work

Nishat Khan/Pete Stacey – The Gate of the Moon (Sitar Concerto No. 1)

The Proms première quality control took a real nosedive this year, and no-one can blame you for voting this hackrag as the worst of them. As i mentioned at the time, fingers need to pointed as much at Pete Stacey (who appears to have done most of the actual ‘hard’ work) as Nishat Khan, for creating one of the most ghastly examples of culturally confused, ingratiating sonic ghee you’ll ever have the misfortune to hear. Perhaps there’s a place in society for music that actually makes you feel more stupid while you listen to it (e.g.), but that place really shouldn’t be the Proms.

Runners Up

Diana Burrell – Blaze

Anna Clyne – Masquerade

Gerald Barry – No other people.

i know, right? So it seems when composers aren’t interested in either shocking or flattering us, they’ll opt simply to bore us with half-baked banalities. Not, it has to be said, terribly unpredictable in the case of a couple of these composers, but that doesn’t stop it becoming rather cuttingly irritating as the minutes slowly tick past. It would be pushing it to call Anna Clyne’s Last Night barnstormer “banal”, but it certainly lacked anything approximating originality, so it’s hardly surprising you voted so strongly against it.

Best New Work

Colin Matthews – Turning Point

86% of you gave a positive response to Colin Matthews’ new work, and even though it wasn’t my favourite of the premières, i can see where you’re coming from. Surprise and no little relief accompanied my experience of listening to the piece, particularly due to its refreshing (if rare) determination to avoid Faberian blandaties. “There’s a kind of majesty to it” i opined at the time, and that view hasn’t changed; the kind of dramatic rug-pulling Matthews comes up with, coupled with his nicely effective problem-cum-solution structure, go a long way to making this his most imaginative new work in a long time.

Runners Up

Frederic Rzewski – Piano Concerto

Helmut Lachenmann – Tanzsuite mit Deutschlandlied

Thomas Adès – Totentanz

No arguments here; i enjoyed all three of these works immensely, and they each seem to yield more and more on further listenings. It’s shameful that it took until Helmut Lachenmann’s 78th year before he was featured at the Proms (and 33 years since the Tanzsuite was first heard), but perhaps one should just celebrate the happening rather than picking fights about the wait. i still can’t quite get my head around what Rzewski’s up to in his Concerto; time will tell. As for Totentanz, maybe some of the backroom sneering that’s been a perennial accompaniment to Adès’ career might shut up for a bit in the face of what is a breathtaking addition to the repertoire. i don’t trot out words like ‘masterpiece’ very often, but i cleave firmly to my initial view of the piece, it really does seem to have that written all over it.

As to my own peeves and faves, the ‘new’ works by Philip Glass and David Matthews left me, literally, shouting at the speakers. i’ve wasted enough words on those twin monstrosities, so no need for anything more here, except to say i’m bewildered at the amount of support Glass’ music continues to ‘enjoy’; a little over half the votes for that piece were positive. Go figure. Turning to the triumphs, in addition to the Adès and Lachenmann scores, another favourite of my own this year was a piece that seems to have been skirted over by most of you who voted: Edward Cowie’s Earth Music I – The Great Barrier Reef. Perhaps that was due to a lack of listeners—the title, implying it can be filed under ‘eco-message’ possibly doesn’t help—but if so, that’s a shame, as Cowie’s music manages to get his point across purely through a sense of celebration and wonderment, and his sonic language is disarmingly but invitingly complex. If you haven’t checked it out yet, be sure to do so, as it’s a rather rarefied delight.